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In recent years, the introduction of new types of pedestrian crossing - particularly the controversial puffin, which detects the presence of people and vehicles to calculate the right crossing time - has been the cause of much public debate. But concern over how to get people over the road has been a source of discussion since the motor car first started to jostle Britain's pedestrians for roadspace. Has anything really changed?

This feature looks into the development of British pedestrian facilities - from the humble zebra crossing through to the trusty pelican. It's a more interesting story than you might think - and there's a chance to have a go at some of the different types of crossing along the way.

Hairbrained and most dangerous

By the early 1960s it was clear that there was a need for more widespread use of signalised pedestrian crossings: increased traffic volumes meant that Zebra Crossings were not the all-purpose solution they had once been. But the Ministry of Transport was reluctant to use the type of signalised crossing that was prevalent at the time because it held traffic up for too long and was very expensive.

The solution was to design a new type of pedestrian crossing and it seemed at the time that the best solution would be a hybrid of the two existing crossing types, combining the flexibility of a Zebra Crossing with the safety of signals. A short list of the requirements would include:

Clear carriageway markings, in line with Zebra Crossings.

A red signal to traffic to ensure pedestrian safety.

A way for pedestrians to request crossing time.

A delay before the crossing activates, allowing it to operate in time with nearby traffic signals and reducing the appeal of pushing the button just to see the lights change. This also required a way of informing the pedestrian that their request had been accepted.

A clear indication to cross, but no instruction not to cross because of legal considerations.

A way to tell pedestrians that their time to cross was running out.

Flexible crossing time so that traffic would not be held up longer than necessary.

The result of this was, more than anything before or since, the mongrel offspring of Zebras and signals. It fitted all the above criteria perfectly - white triangles on the road, like a Zebra's white stripes, to indicate the presence of a crossing place; Belisha Beacons with black stripes on top of its signals. Pedestrians could push the button and for the first time had a 'WAIT' light and then a 'CROSS' light to tell them when to go. So far so good. It even had a catchy name - the Panda Crossing. The name Panda seems to have been plucked from thin air, presumably as another black and white mammal to follow on from Zebra.

About here is where the Ministry got a bit carried away - a pulsating amber light warned motorists that people were about to cross and a pulsating red light stopped traffic. After eight seconds, 'CROSS' began to flash, and the amber traffic light returned, this time flashing. Pedestrians then had seventeen seconds of Zebra Crossing-style priority, during which time 'CROSS' flashed faster and faster. The Ministry was careful to distinguish between the lights that pulsated and those that merely flashed: the answer, apparently, is that a pulsating light never completely goes out. After all that, the lights just switched off, and traffic could move freely once more.

A huge publicity campaign was mounted. Posters and leaflets were drawn up and a 60-second promotional cartoon commissioned. In the key trial sites of Guildford, London and Lincoln, the film was shown in cinemas and police were sent out to show it in schools. Every schoolchild got a copy of the leaflet. The press were enlisted and bullied into reporting back on the experiment again a week later. The film got national television coverage. Surely this media blitz couldn't fail to get the public accustomed to the new crossings?

Transport Minister Ernest Marples unveiled the very first Panda Crossing on York Road, just outside Waterloo Station in London, on 2 April 1962. He and the Mayor of Lambeth were the first to cross it - with the Mayor carrying a cuddly toy panda (right, click to enlarge image). Right from the beginning it was poorly received. It ticked every box on the government's wish list, but the problem was that it was absurdly complicated to use, with convoluted sequences of flashing and pulsating lights, some steady and some getting faster. It was beyond most of those who tried it out that April morning. One old lady interviewed by the BBC declared "that man Marples is up to too many tricks. It's a hairbrained scheme and most dangerous!"

Regardless of practical considerations, the Panda Crossing was all that was available, and before long the trial was being rolled out across the country for wider assessment. The Panda was, at the very least, received with a guarded attitude by the public. Motorists found the array of flashing and pulsating lights confusing, and in particular were disconcerted by the fact that there was no indication that they could proceed.

While the Panda Crossing was being forced onto an uncertain country, Ernest Marples as the Transport Minister was aware that further, more drastic measures might be needed to improve road safety in urban areas, and as such an even more radical experiment was set up to run the following year: the Controlled Traffic Area.